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Imamat (Religious Leadership) is of 2 categories. ‘Sughra’ and ‘Kubra’ Imamat-e-Sughra refers to the Imamat in Namaaz. Imamat-e-Kubra refers to leading the Muslims in Religious and worldly issues as the True Representative of the Prophet Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. The authority that has been bestowed to the Imams (in the sense of Imamat-e-Kubra) is very dominant. The people do not even have the right to disobey their commands.

Every Muslim is obligated to follow them and adhere to their commands. There are however certain preconditions for a person to be appointed as the leader. The Imam must be a free person i.e. not a slave, he must be sane, an adult i.e. one who has reached puberty, he must be capable and he must be Qarshi as well, meaning that he should have connection to the Quraish. To be Alawi or to be Maasum is not a condition. This condition is one that is stipulated by the raafdis (shias), as they do not agree with the other conditions.

They insist on the Imam being Hashmi, Alawi and Maasum. Their aim in doing so is to discredit and nullify the positions of the other 3 Khulafa, namely Hazrat Abu Bakr, Hazrat Umar and Hazrat Uthman رضى الله تعالى عنهما because these Khulafa were not from the families and lineage mentioned above. It must be noted that their Khilaafat has been unanimously accepted by all the Sahaba-e-Kiraam . رضى الله تعالى عنهما

Hazrat Maula Ali radi allahu anhu and Imam Hussain radi allahu anhu also accepted the Khilaafat of the other 3 Khulafa. As for the condition of being from the lineage of Hazrat Ali (Alawi), then this will also exclude Hazrat Ali radi allahu anhu and even his Khilaafat will be regarded as invalid according to them, since it is not possible for Hazrat Ali radi allahu anhu to be an Alawi, as this refers to his descendants.

The raafdis also believe that the Imam must be Maasum. This too is unacceptable just as we have already explained that only the Ambia عليهم السلام and Angels are Maasum.

Law: One being worthy of appointment as an Imam is not sufficient. It is necessary that he must be appointed by the preceding Imam or those Muslims that are appointed to handle the Religious affairs of the people.

Law: To follow the Imam (Khalifa) is absolutely Fard upon all Muslims. This however is on condition that his commands are in accordance with the Shariah. To follow anyone who commands anything contrary to the Shariah is disallowed.

Law: The Imam should be a person who is an Aalim. He should be a courageous person, or one who is assisted by the Ulama.

Law: The leadership (Imamat) of a woman or a Na Baaligh (one who has not reached puberty) is disallowed. If the preceding Imam has appointed a Na Baaligh as the Imam, then the people should appoint a guardian to carry out the duties until such time that he reaches puberty. The Na Baaligh will only be an honorary Imam. The actual Imam for this duration will be the appointed Guardian.

Belief: After the Prophet Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam the First Righteous Khalifa is Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddique, followed by Hazrat Umar-e-Farooq, then Hazrat Uthman-e-Ghani, then Hazrat Ali-e-Murtuza and finally Hazrat Imam Hassan who ruled for six months رضى الله تعالى عنهما . These personalities are known as the ‘Khulafa-e-Raashideen’ and their Khilaafat is known as the ‘Khilaafat-e-Raashida’. Every one of them fulfilled their responsibilities and discharged their duties as true representatives of the Prophet Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam to the best of their abilities and with complete devotion. Read the rest of this entry »